Chicago anthropologist weighs in on “pimp-gate”
2008 February 13
More on the U.S. presidential race and tenuous links with anthropology: Michael Silverstein, a professor of anthropology, linguistics and psychology at the University of Chicago, was asked to weigh in on “pimp-gate,” the scandal where MSNBC anchor David Shuster was suspended after suggesting on-air that the Hillary Clinton campaign was “pimping out” Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea.
Here’s the quote I loved: “To say that someone is pimping is really an extraordinarily negative description,” said University of Chicago’s Silverstein. “It takes a lot of work to use it so ironically that it becomes positive.”
